All phases were ugly for the Cleveland Browns: offense, defense, and special teams. The Chicago Bears steamrolled the Browns by a score of 31-3, as the Browns never seemed to have a chance. But, how much
closer did Myles Garrett get to the NFL sack record? And how did Shedeur Sanders look? Let’s get to the full game recap.
1st Quarter – Browns vs. Bears
The Bears received the opening kickoff, and special teams woes already reared their ugly head, as WR Devin Duvernay returned it 52 yards to the Browns’ 47 yard line. The defense forced a three-and-out, but Chicago played the field position advantage game by having their return man down the punt at the one-yard line with a diving stop. Head coach Kevin Stefanski challenged the ruling, but the call on the field was upheld.
The Browns’ drive from the 1 yard line was then a comedy of errors. Before even running a snap, there was a false start. After a run by RB Quinshon Judkins for a yard, they were flagged for too many players in the huddle. They ran it two more times before punting on fourth down.
The Bears returned the punt 18 yards to the Browns’ 42 yard line, meaning they had even better starting field position than their first drive. This time, they utilized the ground game and some short passes to pick up several first downs. On 1st-and-goal at the 6 yard line, RB DeAndre Swift finished the drive with a touchdown run as he bounced to the outside, giving the Bears a 7-0 lead mid-way through the opening quarter.
WR Malachi Corley returned the ensuing kickoff to the 30 yard line, giving QB Shedeur Sanders some room to work with and hopefully a chance to try some passes. Adding to the issues, the Browns somehow had a delay of game penalty on offense after the kickoff due to communication issues. Sanders threw away his first pass attempt as his target was covered, and then on second down, got a short completion to TE Harold Fannin to put it back to 3rd-and-10. Sanders eluded a free rusher off his left side and took off over the middle for 9.5 yards, but his knee was down just before getting the first down. P Corey Bojorquez came on and punted, as the ball rolled to the end zone for a touchback.
QB Caleb Williams picked apart the Browns’ defense with ease. A pick play for TE Colston Loveland free for 24 yards on a catch-and-run, and then on the next play, Williams fired a bullet to a wide open WR Luther Burden over the middle, which went for 40 more yards.
That set up 1st-and-goal at the 8 yard line. Two run plays set up 3rd-and-goal at the 3 yard line. Williams faked it and found WR D.J. Moore streaking across the left side, beating CB Myles Harden immediately for a touchdown to give Chicago a 14-0 lead with 1:29 left in the opening quarter.
On the Browns’ next drive, it began with an end around to Fannin, who was hit hard after a gain of 2 yards. On second down, a free blitzer came off the left side immediately and blasted Sanders for a sack and a loss of 8 yards that he could do nothing about.
2nd Quarter – Browns vs. Bears
The Browns faced a 3rd-and-16 to begin the second quarter. Sanders checked it down to Fannin for 7 yards as the punt unit came out again. After the punt, the Bears began at the 23 yard line. The defense couldn’t take advantage of a gift of a holding penalty, as on 2nd-and-16, Burden caught a short pass and made two nifty moves to dodge tackles and gain 15 yards. A run play moved the chains on third down.
Chicago continued having their way. A 19-yard strike to Loveland to the left sideline, followed by a 15-yard strike to Moore. A playaction pass to TE Cole Kmet then gained 11 yards to set up 1st-and-goal at the 7 yard line, as the Browns’ defense had no answers. After two run plays, the Bears had a 3rd-and-goal at the 8 yard line. Williams looked to pass, tried to find someone, couldn’t, and as time ran out, DE Myles Garrett added to his sack total as he pursues the all-time record — now needing just two more sacks to get there. K Cairo Santos then missed from 35 yards out, keeping it 14-0 with 4:41 remaining in the first half.
Sanders and the Browns’ offense took over at the 25 yard line, looking for their first first down of the game. Sanders threw the first pass in the dirt after seeing no one open, and then on second down, C Luke Wypler was flagged for an ineligible man downfield, but it didn’t matter as the screen pass was incomplete. Then, on third down, Sanders dropped a beautiful 42-yard pass down the middle to WR Isaiah Bond, down to the Bears’ 33 yard line.
Unfortunately, the drive couldn’t get any further, and ended up going backwards. On a 3rd-and-8, Sanders was sacked for a loss of 9 yards back to the 40-yard line, making it a 4th-and-17. Given the kicking issues that the Bears had already had on short kicks, there was no way in the cold weather that K Andre Szmyt was going to get a crack from 57 yards, so Bojorquez came on to try another punt. His punt was fair caught at the 10 yard line, with the Browns having two timeouts remaining.
Chicago got 9 yards on their first down run, and then on second down, Kmet couldn’t hang on to a nice pass up the seam. On 3rd-and-1, Chicago tried a playaction pass that did not work, so they quickly sent in the punt unit. That gave Sanders another crack at trying to engineer something, now with 1:10 remaining in the half at his own 38 yard line.
A false start by WR Gage Larvadain made it 1st-and-15 instead, and then Fannin couldn’t hang on to Sanders’ first pass. Nothing was happening on second and third down either, leading to another three-and-out and a quick punt right back to the Bears. The punt settled at the 26 yard line with 40 seconds remaining in the half.
This time, Williams found Moore open over the middle for 25 yards to the Browns’ 49 yard line, as Chicago burned their first timeout with 33 seconds left. Pressure by Garrett and a knockaway by Harden helped prevent another downfield completion. A few plays later, the Bears faced 4th-and-3 at the 42 yard line with 3 seconds to go, so the Bears had one shot to try to get to the end zone. The Browns were out-gained 250 yards to 57 yards, and lost the time-of-possession battle 20:10 to 9:50.
3rd Quarter – Browns vs. Bears
The Browns made another special teams gaffe to begin the second half, letting the ball bounce in play and go to the end zone for a touchback, meaning the drive started at the 20 yard line. Judkins finally got another carry to start the drive, but it was stuffed for no gain. On second down, Sanders telegraphed an outside pass to Fannin that was nearly pick sixed, but the defender dropped it. On 3rd-and-10, Sanders tried going deep for Bond again, who had a step on his man. However, the throw ended up dying toward the middle of the field and couldn’t be tracked, leading to another punt.
Duvernay had another 16-yard return, out to their own 47 yard line. The Browns’ defense forced a 4th-and-3 situation at the Browns’ 46 yard line, and then surprisingly, Chicago went for it. Williams couldn’t find anyone, and then DE Alex Wright sacked him for a loss of 6 yards to give the offense their best starting field position of the day at the Bears’ 48 yard line.
Judkins carried the ball for 3 yards to start the drive. On second down, while in the grasp, Sanders threw the ball to Fannin, who somehow came away with the catch with a defender on him, and then broke free for 13 yards and a first down. A few plays later, on 3rd-and-10, Sanders wasn’t on the same page with Bond for the quick hitter. Szymt came on from 50 yards out, and despite the conditions, he drilled it right down the middle to make it a 14-3 game with 10:03 to go in the third quarter.
The defense came up strong again on the second drive of the half, forcing another three-and-out. This time, the Bears opted to punt, and Larvadain was taken down at the 15 yard line. Unfortunately, the ball was then given right back to Chicago. Off of a playaction fake, Sanders turned and tried to fire a pass to Fannin up the seam, but didn’t feel LB D’Marco Jackson right there. Jackson tipped it and then caught it for the interception.
Then, on offense, Williams rolled to the right sideline and fired a ball against the field to the back of the end zone. S Grant Delpit and CB Tyson Campbell were there, but the ball went over them and right into the hands of Moore for a 22-yard touchdown to give the Bears a 21-3 lead.
Sanders got another bomb to Bond, this time for 47 yards, right over the middle to get into Chicago territory.
A few plays later, on 3rd-and-8, Sanders threw a beautiful rocket to WR Jerry Jeudy to the right corner of the end zone with CB Jalen Johnson draped on him. The ball bounced out of Jeudy’s stomach and was basically handed to Johnson for an interception instead of what should have been a touchdown. It was so unbelievable that no one even knew what happened at first.
Chicago drove the length of the field again, finishing it off with a 17-yard touchdown run by Swift that involved some missed tackles by the defense to put the Bears up 28-3.
The comedy of errors continued, as special teams allowed another ball to bounce in play before taking it for a touchback, to start the drive at the 20 yard line. It was another ugly offensive series for Cleveland, a three-and-0ut that saw Sanders sacked on third down for a loss of 9 yards.
4th Quarter – Browns vs. Bears
Bojorquez punted to start the final quarter, and took over near midfield again. They got one first down, but on the next 3rd-and-15, Garrett got to Williams again for a sack (although it was credited as a half sack). Chicago punted, with another fair catch by Larvadain at the 12 yard line.
After Cleveland got one first down, Sanders was picked off again when S C. J. Gardner-Johnson lined up near the line and dropped all the way back deep to the sideline to undercut the pass, returning it 23 yards to the Browns’ 22 yard line. Cleveland held the Bears to a field goal, making it a 31-3 game with 7:30 to go.
Sanders tried to engineer a late touchdown drive, getting a 1st-and-goal situation at the 4 yard line. After two incomplete passes, he was sacked on third and fourth down for a a turnover on downs.
Quick Hitters
- QB Shedeur Sanders: 18-of-35 for 177 yards, 3 INT. 2 rushes, 24 yards.
- RB Quinshon Judkins: 12 carries, 21 yards (1.8 YPC).
- TE Harold Fannin: 7 catches, 48 yards.
- DE Myles Garrett: 1.5 sacks.
- I need to make sure I don’t get into the habit of coddling Shedeur Sanders, just because I want him to succeed. But we do need to acknowleding all of the offensive line issues he had, the run game having no chance, and then a guy like Jerry Jeudy dropping a touchdown for an interception. Sanders made his own share of mistakes too. I’d say this game was one where he showed some of his rookie mistakes, but I still have the impression that he has the tools to be a starting NFL quarterback.
Next up, the Browns go on the road to face the Buffalo Bills.
